In each of our lives, we know what changes we need to make. The problem is many of us wait until we have to make the changes before we actually do it.

There are many examples in our lives of areas that we know we need to change, but several examples are diet, health, weight, exercise, honesty, unhealthy relationships, finances, employment, education, what you read or watch, people you have no business being involved with, etc.

Let’s just take one that we can all relate to: losing weight or getting in shape. You have heard stories about people that wait until a doctor comes into a room and gives them the bad report before they get serious about their health. Once the doctor comes in the picture, then they start eating salads, walking, and began the process of getting themselves into a better physical condition. When you close your eyes, you know the area of your life that you need to change. There is really very little question about it.

My point is the person probably knew what to do years before the doctor visit, but would not start until the bad report. Additionally, my point is to take an inventory of where you are in life and where you want to go. More times than not, many of us know what changes we need to make in order to go where we want our lives to go. It’s the holiday season, so why not now?

Another example would be in the financial area. It is very common to think that you will continue to earn what you are earning forever, but we all know that at some point you will retire. Where are you at in your planning stage? Another example is college. If you have children, your perfect wish is probably for them to go to college. Trust me when I tell you that college is getting expensive, and just telling your children that they are completely on their own with all college expenses is probably not what the parent wants to do.

I am a Georgia football fan. This past weekend, Georgia played Auburn and won, but there was one event that happened that I will use as the example of what I am saying here. There is a very prominent running back on the Georgia team that has all the prospects of a great life in football beyond college and into the NFL. Well, the game was almost over, and he got tackled and tore his ACL; suddenly the future he has been planning is now in question. The point is that it is impossible to be prepared for everything, but there are things you can start doing today that will help if an unfortunate event happens in your life.

When you make changes in your life, you don’t have to wait until the finished product is complete. You will start sleeping better on the first day after you start. There is something about starting that gives your spirit a release and your mind a relief; just knowing that you are on track in life will help every aspect of your life now. KT

The life represented by the pictures and drawings hanging on your refrigerator door are much more important that what is hanging on your office wall. People, men especially, seem to get this confused. If you are ever in doubt which is more important to you, just look at what is hanging with magnets on your refrigerator door; it will remind you of what is most important in your life.

At the office, you can have all manner of awards, commendations, trophies, and accolades, and when you die all those things will be meaningless. The items hanging on your refrigerator door are what will mean the most to you when you get to the one yard line of life and began to look back over your years.

Last night, I was up alone reading by the fire thinking about this very thing. I got up and walked over to our refrigerator door and began to look at our lives displayed with little magnets. I realized that right before me on the refrigerator door was the essence of my life- what I held most dear in life and what I cherish the most. This morning when I got to the office, I took a little walk and looked at the walls and the items hanging on the walls. I realized that at my funeral none of the items on my office wall will be displayed for the people to see. The items on the refrigerator door are the ones that will be seen as meaning the most to me.

Sometimes in life when the world is closing in and the lines between work and home began to merge and get confusing, step back and look at your refrigerator door. It will remind you of what and who is important and where you need to be focused during your living years. We all have to go to work if we want to eat and raise a family, but work doesn’t have to be what identifies who you are; your self esteem does not have to be determined by your work. In fact, your greatest work is with the people pictured on your refrigerator door. KT

There is a great old church song titled “His eye is on the Sparrow.” It is a song that depicts the innocence of a little Sparrow bird in a big world and that if God has his eye on the sparrow, you better believe he has his eye on you.

There are eight passages of scripture that reference a Sparrow. In all passages, the use of the word Sparrow is used in the context of a little bird with little value and yet the bible says that not one of them is forgotten by God or overlooked by God. What a powerful mental example of the way God looks at you and me.

Are you in a place where you doubt God can see you? Trust me when I tell you this, he knows how many hairs you have on your head now and how many you had yesterday. Do you really think there is such a place mentally, emotionally or physically where you can go that God does not know what is going on? It is foolish to think so. He knows how many times your heart has beaten since you were conceived, and he also knows how many more times before he calls you home.

When you feel that you are someplace that God cannot find you or that you are separated from him, please know that you are only a quiet spoken word away from his presence. Some of the most meaningful prayers I have ever spoken were prayed quietly in my spirit. God hears every one of them, and he hears every one of yours. If you are a parent, you know what I mean when I say the love of a child is a love that is unconditional and a love that you would die for. God looks at you the same way you look at your child, and he hears with the same passion and focus that you hear your child.

Wherever you think you are, God is right there with his eye on you just like he has his eye on a little Sparrow. It is a big world, but he knows exactly where you are and exactly what is going on. KT

This is a famous quote that has been said over the years, and I think the message is very profound. The message is that people watch how you live your life much more than they listen to what you say. You will reach more people by the way you live your life than by the words you say. You have heard it said that we should separate the message from the messenger, but we all know it is almost impossible.

We subconsciously only listen and take advice from people we respect. KT

Asking God to handle something and then trusting him to do what is best for you could be one of the toughest prayers you can pray.

Taking your hands off the control switch and really being ok regardless of the outcome is very tough to do. Many times we may pray over something and in the back of our minds, we think God doesn’t know what our real plan is. Ha.

Have you ever tried to negotiate with God over something or someone? It goes like this, God, if you will do this or that, I will promise to do such and such. Think back on times in your life when you have negotiated with God, and then ask yourself if you kept those promises. All I can say is that I am personally thankful for God’s grace and you probably are also.

What we want is usually in the here and now and involves, jobs, money, cars, relationships, promotions; when we ask for these things, it is usually “I need it now.” God takes a much longer view of time over 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, etc. God is the only one that knows what a decision today will result in 15 years from now. Trusting God to put you in the right place at his timing and to keep you out of the wrong decisions takes a great deal of faith and trust that he, and he alone, knows best.

As I look at my own life and my family, I can only conclude that God had it planned and that there is nothing I have done that got us where we are today. It was all him and him alone.

When you are facing big decisions in your life, there is this little thing called peace that comes over decisions when you are handling it the right way. There is also this little thing called uncertainty that comes over you when you are making a wrong move. My advice is to pray for the peace over the decision and not to move forward until you have it.

In business, I have gone into more meetings than I can count where I didn’t know the answer or how to address something only to get into the meeting and have a spike in my spirit about how to take the conversation forward. Many times before a meeting, my silent prayer is “help me, Lord Jesus and give me your wisdom.” Also, because I stutter, my prayer is always “let me speak fluently and let your grace go before me.” There have been deals that have been lost or engagements I wanted to get hired on that did not work out, but as I look over the 25 years of selling hotels, I can see God’s hand in my life and in my business with absolute clarity.

My main objective is to finish well in life and leave a good reputation for my children and son-in-laws to follow. I think about family members that have gone before me and the great example many have set for my life, and I want to be able to have my children and grandchildren say with pride that I was their daddy and grandfather. I don’t believe there is a greater calling than to do what is right and to be honest while you are doing it.

So, my advice is to really seek God’s will and move only when you have the peace over your decision. KT